2024 Jeep Wrangler 4xe Willys on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Jeep Wrangler gets the wide-track treatment

When we read the tip about a Gulf-state diplomat in Rabat, Morocco who had supposedly "merged two Jeep Wranglers," we figured the two off-roaders were somehow linked front-to-back. Oh no. As you can see in the image above, taken from video of that vehicle actually traveling down the road and needing more than one lane to do it, the two Jeeps were put together side-by-side.
The seriously widebody truck is said to have six wheels, one at each corner and two in the middle. That's about all anyone seems to know about it at the moment, and that's probably enough - in these situations you know better than to ask why, just watch the video below.

Jeep CEO a fan of pickup redux

The idea of a Jeep pickup is a hardly a new concept. After all, putting a bed on the company's rugged off-roaders goes back to the '40s, not to mention the more recent Cherokee-based Comanche. There's a very slim chance that a truck could return to the lineup down the line if brand CEO Mike Manley gets his wish. "I remain a big fan of a Jeep pickup. I think we have history that says it belongs in our portfolio," Manley said to The Detroit News. However, there's no need to get any hopes up soon, because a truck doesn't get any mention in the brand's five-year plan. That puts the earliest possible introduction around 2019. Even Manley is tempering expectations. "At this moment and time, I have higher priorities. That doesn't mean to say that we don't work on it, we're not looking at it," he said to The Detroit News. The most likely candidate to support a future Jeep truck is the next-gen Wrangler, according to The News. The rest of FCA's pickups and SUVs are running at capacity, which makes slipping in another variant difficult. However, the future Wrangler is heavily rumored to get an expanded production facility in Toledo, OH, which could make things possible. Anonymous FCA insiders confirmed to Autoblog that the next-gen Wrangler would be offered with a 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 and eight-speed automatic. It's also reportedly using solid axles at the front and rear, a fixed windshield and an aluminum body. That could make for a very fun and practical off-roader. If reading all of this speculation gives you a twinge of deja vu, it should. After the Jeep Gladiator concept (pictured above), there were years of speculation about the brand bringing the pickup back. Even then the plan was for a compact truck to tackle that hole in the segment. It was even believed that the project had a green light for production seemingly with Sergio Marchionne's blessing. Then things were pushed back, and last year, the idea was officially quashed. Related Video:

2015 Jeep Cherokee finds a bit more fuel mileage thanks to stop/start and aero tweaks

Just a year after it burst onto the scene, Jeep has already made a pretty substantial addition to its V6-powered Cherokee, which has proven to be an extremely popular seller so far for the brand, adding a new stop-start system for the midsize, off-road-ready CUV.
The addition of stop-start included a few aerodynamic tweaks to the Cherokee's polarizing body, resulting in a wallet-pleasing increase in fuel economy. According to the EPA, the front-drive, V6-powered Jeep will now return 21 miles per gallon in the city and 29 mpg on the highway, up from 19 city and 28 highway. Four-wheel-drive, V6-powered Cherokees, meanwhile, will now return 20 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway, up from 19 mpg in the city and 27 mpg.
With 271 horsepower, 239 pound-feet of torque and these newly enhanced figures, it's refreshing to see a larger, naturally aspirated engine that is still able to take the fight to today's crop of small-displacement, turbocharged four-cylinders.